Alexander Zverev will play Arthur Fery in the 2026 Wimbledon men’s singles semi-finals.
In a day of upsets on the men’s draw, Zverev defeated Taylor Fritz, and Fery beat Flavio Cobolli.
Zverev, who hadn’t been past the fourth round of Wimbledon before this year, will now take on the home favourite, Fery, for a place in the final.
Do you believe Arthur Fery can win Wimbledon?
During his quarter-final on-court interview, the German had a message for the Wimbledon crowd.
Alexander Zverev tells British tennis fans he won’t have a problem with them cheering for Arthur Fery in the semis
Interviewer Rishi Persad asked Zverev for his thoughts on his semi-final opponent, assuming he’d heard who’d won over on Centre Court.
“[Flavio] Cobolli won? Really?” he joked.
After Court One’s laughter subsided, Zverev previewed what promises to be an electric semi-final match.
“It’s ok, you guys can all be for [Arthur] Fery, that’s totally fine, I understand it, I don’t have a problem with it! said Zverev.
“I hope [it’s] good for me!
“Not so good for everyone else.
“I think it’s going to be an exciting day for both of us, first time semi-finals for both of us at Wimbledon.
“For him, of course, it’s a fairy tale story for Arthur Fery… See what I did there? Very clever.
“But, I think I have to trust myself, I have to trust myself and hopefully I can show a good performance, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Zverev will walk on court as the favourite to reach the final, ranked 111 places above his British opponent.
However, being the underdog has suited Fery just fine so far at SW19, and he will relish the chance to qualify for his maiden Grand Slam final in front of his home fans.
The German must be careful not to let the fans get under his skin, as he gets set to play the villain once more.
Zverev will be up against it, although if he plays as well as he did in his quarter-final match, even an inspired Fery will struggle to stop him.
Having lost his previous seven meetings with Fritz, Zverev produced a dominant display to win in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
He was understandably delighted with his performance, advancing to his 12th Grand Slam semi-final.
“I’m extremely happy to be in the semi-finals, especially against Taylor [Fritz], who I haven’t won [against] in more than two years; he’s been beating me for two years straight,” said Zverev.
“I played a fantastic match, and I’m very happy to be in the semi-finals.
Alexander Zverev vs Taylor Fritz – Match stats
| Stats | Alexander Zverev | Taylor Fritz |
| Aces | 14 | 17 |
| Double faults | 2 | 2 |
| 1st Serve % | 77% | 63% |
| Win % on 1st Serve | 77% | 78% |
| Win % on 2nd Serve | 81% | 35% |
| Break points | 4/6 | 0/4 |
“Nothing on a tennis court is ever easy… If I would play my five-year-old daughter, then maybe it would be easy… for her!
“I think I just had to focus from the first point onwards, first game, on my serve, I had three break points against me, and I knew that it was going to be a difficult match no matter what.
“Of course, it’s in the back of your mind that you haven’t beaten an opponent in more than two years, he’s beaten you a lot of times in a row, that is always something you have in your mind, but today, I knew I had to play an almost perfect match to have a chance, and I think I did that today.”
Zverev was then asked if he believed winning Roland Garros had allowed him to play with more freedom at Wimbledon.
“I guess? I don’t know,” he said.
“Look, I’m just happy to still be in the tournament.
“Last year I was already practising on a hard court at this point, I’m just happy to still be in the tournament, to have a chance to hopefully play two more matches here.
“This is one of the biggest honours in tennis, to play on this court, to play on stadium court, there is nothing like it in this sport. It’s a huge honour for me, it’s a dream come true, to finally play well at Wimbledon. I waited quite a long time for it! But, I’m just happy where I am.”
Zverev will return to play Fery in the semi-finals on Friday, July 10.
Alexander Zverev told he played a ‘perfect match’ against Taylor Fritz
During the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage, former Grand Slam finalist John Lloyd shared his thoughts on Zverev’s big win.
“No one could see this scoreline coming through today,” he said.
“He demolished a world-class grass-court player that a lot of people fancied, with the draw, to get to the finals.
“He just knocked him off the court with a mixture of brilliant serving and tactical awareness. You can’t play any better than that, really, I don’t think.
“I think it was a perfect match.”
